The present study is a part of a larger study guided by the Integrated Dynamic Psycho-socioecological Life Course (IDSEL) model  of resilience to investigate human adaption to life transitions from early to late middle adulthood. The present study focused on the role of family resilience in coping with competing demands of caregiving and work among dual-earner families in an urban city. A total of 1008 Chinese working parents (355 fathers and 653 mothers)  completed a survey. Participants were on average 38.61 years old and had 2 children. Compared to working fathers, working mothers reported higher levels of family resilience and caregiver burden. There was no gender difference in the level of work-family conflict. Bivariate correlation results indicated that higher levels of work-family conflict were related to higher levels of caregiver burden but lower levels of family resilience, and the latter two variables were negatively correlated with each other. Preliminary multiple regression analyses showed that age and gender moderated the associations among work-family variables, and these study variables accounted for 54.7% of the variance in work-family conflict. For working fathers, high levels of work-family conflict were best predicted by high levels of caregiver burden and their older age. For working mothers, high levels of work-family conflict were best predicted by high levels of caregiver burden, followed by low levels of family resilience, and then their younger age. Preliminary findings call for efforts in reducing caregiver burden and cultivating family resilience to cope with competing work-family demands, especially among young working mothers.

Professor Catherine So-kum  TANG is a Distinguished Professor in Psychology at the Hong Kong Shue Yan University. She is an active researcher with over 300 academic publications in prestigious and reputable peer-reviewed journals, books/book chapters and academic conferences proceedings. Her research interests include human resilience and adaptation, behavioral addiction, violence against women and health psychology. Professor Tang has been listed in the world’s top 2% most cited scientists by Stanford University in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.